In Advance of the News on Superintendent Candidates For Seattle Schools

This is going to be a bit difficult to write in a way that doesn't land me in trouble but there is a pattern out there around representation vis a vis superintendent choice. 

Over the last 30 years, the superintendents have had varying backgrounds and races. 

We have had three Black superintendents - John Stanford, Maria Goodloe-Johnson, and Brent Jones.

We have had one SE Asian superintendent - Raj Manhas.

We have had one Hispanic superintendent - Jose Banda.

We have had one Native American superintendent - Denise Juneau 

Also with Juneau, who is a woman, we had an interim superintendent who was a white woman who is Susan Enfield. 

The other white superintendent was a man - Joe Olchefske. 

I would say that is pretty good representation that many other urban districts have probably never had. 

To note, the Board has just gone into Executive Session with HYA reps to go over the selected (by HYA) candidates that the Board will choose from. I still do not know how many that will be (10, 15, 20?). 

They recessed at 2:35 pm for two hours. 

President Gina Topp stated that no action will be taken during the Ex Session except to narrow down the list. Also, the applications are redacted for name, sex, race, etc. Each applicant has received a number and that is what the Board will use in referring to the candidates. I don't know if any names will be announced by the end of this session. 

One thing I wish I knew is if candidates were allowed to write personal statements.  

However, as was pointed out at a different meeting, it's hard to redact everything. For example, if a candidate went to a HBCU (historically black colleges and universities), you'd probably be almost certain that was a Black candidate. If personal statements were allowed, a candidate might elude to being raised poor or perhaps having immigrant parents. These would be little clues. 

I believe each director just wants to find both the best candidate and the best fit for the district. But, after looking at candidate qualifications, I also think a couple of directors will push for certain candidates based on those clues. 

Does race or gender or personal background matter in doing this job? Will it matter to teachers, the public or parents? It's hard to say. 

But I now swing back to the issue I wrote about in the This and That post from yesterday about the release of the basketball coach at Garfield High. As I reported, the southend newspaper, The Seattle Medium, was pretty up in arms over this action and very directly said it was because the coach was Black. It sounds like they believe there is some conspiracy or "fix" against SPS Black employees. 

Unfortunately for Seattle Public Schools, this is not the first time in recent years they have parted ways with a number of high-profile Black men, and the perception is out there that there are those administrators within Seattle Public Schools who don’t want someone, especially a Black man, to have a brighter light than they do, even if they’ve earned it through their own blood, sweat, and tears!

This is not the first time that The Seattle Medium has written on this topic.  I have puzzled over this belief that is out there because SPS has always had Black leaders in the cabinet. Right now there are three Black leaders in the cabinet as well as two Hispanic ones. 

Because of the request for redaction - it came straight from directors starting with Director Sarju - it will be interesting to see who gets selected. I'm not sure we can ever know what criteria gets used.